Bashert: *defined* (in Jewish use) a person’s soulmate, especially when considered as an ideal or predestined marriage partner.

The story begins with Holocaust survivors Ira Lulinski and Isaac Aron. Both Ira and Isaac were from the town of Miory, Poland (today Belarus). In June 1942, a year after being forced into a crowded ghetto, the Miory Jews were taken to an open field, ordered to undress, and forced to walk across a plank that stretched across a huge ditch. They were all shot and fell into what became a mass grave. Only 25 of the 1,200 Jews of Miory survived that day.

Among the survivors were Ira Lulinski, his father Rabbi Joseph Lulinski, and Chana and Isaac Aron. While dodging bullets, they ran into the woods where they joined a group of partisans. For two years they lived in the cold forest fighting the Nazis, all while struggling to survive. During that time, Rabbi Joseph Lulinski officiated the marriage of Chana and Isaac. After the war, they came to the US, where Ira and Isaac remained best friends.

Years later, Ira’s granddaughter Gaby met Isaac’s grandson Yitzi. They were not aware of the connection until after they began dating. Gaby and Yitzi were married this past summer under the talleisim of their two grandfathers (you can see each Talis at the top of the chuppah in the wedding photo). Now that’s bashert❣️ #MazalTov

Source: American Society for Yad Vashem

Ira Lulinski and Isaac Aron